Aqua fishpond in the park

All summer, three tiny orange, white and red fish have been thriving in a wee pond next to the Aqua Condominiums. Darting through shadows cast by ferns, hyacinths, lilies and hydrangeas, they are the latest beneficiaries of Jerry Kemperman’s knack for nature.

“They’re Comets,” explains the Aqua Facility Engineer. “They’re a cross between a koi and a goldfish. The bright orange one I was calling a shark. The other ones I call redheads.”

Kemperman built the pond in May. Measuring about two shoeboxes in diameter, it nestles in a garden by the sidewalk across from Lakeshore East Park that he has been tending “for about four years now.”

“It was all weeds,” he explains.

He says that constructing the pond was simple — “basically a plastic liner and a circulating pond filter and that’s it.” The self-contained, battery-operated device — available at hardware stores — can be installed with ease. Incorporating it into the environment required much greater finesse. Luckily for the fish, the area is not frequented by predators and Kemperman has been working with ponds for decades.

“The first I pond ever did, I was living at the Grand Plaza,” he recalls. “Indoor. Somebody gave me a single fish in a jar, a five-dollar beta fish. That was probably 2000.”

Since then, he and a like-minded legion of diggers have waded deep into the great outdoors.

The group includes a thoroughbred horse trainer from the Southside neighborhood where Kemperman grew up, a farmer and a contractor from Kentucky. All of them are members of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“We currently care for nine ponds,” Kemperman says. “Our largest is in Kentucky. It’s about 220 feet long, 65 wide, and about eight feet deep.”

Though obviously proud of their achievements, the group is also very respectful of the ways of Mother Nature.

“When you’re trying to establish a new pond, it takes like six to eight weeks,” he continues.

“Whether it be a pond or a tank, you’ve got to establish a bacteria bed or biological filter to remove toxins that fish metabolism creates. Don’t overuse any chemicals that they try and sell you.”

He also advises not to overfeed fish, and prefers to take care of the Aqua’s on his own. Later this month, he’ll move them into a co-worker’s home for the winter, but encourages visitors to have a look until then.

“I think it’s really cool when I see kids stopping by to check out the fish.”

— Daniel Patton